La Tejanita Restaurant — Restaurant in Victoria

Quintessential Tex-Mex. Recommended.

I recently had the opportunity to ask some Victoria, Texas residents which Mexican restaurants were preferred. Las Palmas and La Tejanita were recommended. I opted for La Tejanita on the Sunday I was passing through Victoria for two reasons. Las Palmas was closed and the Victoria Advocate had given a good rating to La Tejanita. Other reviews were mixed. Some loved it. Some hated it. So, this was a perfect opportunity to apply my Tex-Mex creds and give it a try.

Service was a little confused. And kind of slow. One person asked what I would like to drink. But it never came. A second asked me what I'd like to drink and it came. I placed my order. Chips and salsa came eventually. No problem though. No complaints. And there were two types of salsa. Both red in color. One had a distinctly more cilantro taste. Neither was spectacular both both were within the Tex-Mex salsa spectrum. No complaints. The other was thicker and more tomato based. I had a look see at what others were eating. I actually saw quite a few burgers. But I also saw the preference for grilled meats, fajitas as it were, on many of the tables. There was a nice mix of gringo and Latino diners on the Sunday that I was there. The semi circular bar was kind of cool, very retro.

After a few minutes the waitress came over to let me know that there had been a mis-hap in the kitchen, hence the delay. These things happen. I asked her if everyone was alright, that no one had caught on fire and she confirmed that the staff was okay.

I had a quick look over to the hot station and saw my order sitting there waiting to be picked up. The staff was spread a little thin this Sunday as my waitress was having to man the register, too. But it came eventually. No problem. But I did watch some others get served before me. "Is that mine by any chance?", I asked, pointing to the kitchen hot station. "It's almost ready". I played "ant". Ant is where you watch one or two people as they move through a crowd or in this case, the waitstaff moving through the restaurant. I saw that they were easily distracted and not very observant. Busing a table instead of checking to see what had come out of the kitchen. Walking by without noticing empty water glasses. Stuff like that. But all would work out fine if the food turned out to be good. So we had staff busing tables, manning the register, making flour tortillas, taking orders, serving food, etc. but in a very disorganized way.

Now on to the food. The chips were a little burned. But my combo plate looked fantastic and tasted terrific. Check out the photo. Where's the rice?, you ask. Hidden under the chalupa! The beef chalupa had arrachera meat instead of picadillo and a substantial scoop of frijoles refritos. Guacamole was not too salty and had just the right amount of garlic.

The enchilada was cheesy deliciousness. Looked to be a blend of a yellow American or ready melt and white Chihuahua.

Damn fine Tex-Mex. I would eat here again. My order was enough...

I eat here alot. The food is delicious... Only problem I have ever had was last night. We had the WORST service I have ever had anywhere. We came in got seated. got our chips and dip, but no one came around to get us drinks. finally after 10-15 min of waiting i stopped a busboy and asked him for drinks. another 5-10 minutes the waiter showed up saying he was "busy" and he was sorry. Fine, he asked what we wanted to drink... another 5-7 minutes to get our drinks (we were right by the drink station) and by now all the chips are gone. lso we request more chips and he takes our order. by now our drinks are completely empty. I look over hes counting his money at the bar and talking to the bartender. After 15-20 minutes the food starts arriving, well all but mine. I only got a plate of beans. Being hungry I went ahead and ate the beans, by the time my fajitas came 5 min later I was already full on chips and beans. He realises our drinks are empty and refills them. a while later by now i am not even trying to figure out how long it is he comes by and i ask for a to go box. he brings it and the check. My daughter had a little bit of chicken still left on her plate that she was gonna put in my box to eat later, but before she got a chance he was whisking her plate away not even asking if she was...

NEVER GOING TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!

This place first off is a bit pricey, my meal just for myself for lunch came out to $17.00. I rate my waitress by how long it takes for them to refill my drink, in this case it was tea, 33min, freaking 33 min for her to refill my drink and the only reason she did was because I got tired of waiting at table and decided to walk up to cashier in front. When she did refill my drink, (to go cup), didn't even put more ice in it, seriously I have to work another 6 hours today (Sunday). I volunteered to come work in your town to help with hurricane victims, and get crappy service. NEVER AGAIN WILL I EAT HERE. The only thing I can say good about this place is the food is delicious. I'm sure it would of been even more if I had eaten the food I ordered. I asked for some substitutions and she said ok and read it back to me what I wanted on my plate! How can you get the order wrong if you wrote it down? There is nothing that angers me more when I have to pay for something that I...